Hospital charges for colorectal cancer patients first admitted through an emergency department

Some 11,023 colorectal cancer patients diagnosed in 1992-96 in Connecticut first were admitted to a hospital through a hospital emergency department. The average hospital inpatient charges and average length of stay were about 60 percent higher for emergency department versus nonemergency department first admissions. Emergency department status was an important predictor of charges independent of age at diagnosis and length of stay. Applying these data to the approximately 131,000 colorectal cancers diagnosed in 1998 in the U.S., estimated excess hospital costs due to emergency department versus nonemergency department first admissions for colorectal cancer were about $328 million.